Caster



July 26, 1932, E. A. REED CASTER Filed Jan. 12, 1931 x a y w Patented July 26, 1932 g g N Um DgsTATE-s PATENT I [OF I E EDWARD A. REED, F EEQOEEIELD, ILEINoIs, iss'mmn' To HARRIS, AN R ED MA ,FACTURING coMPANY, A CORPORATION 0E 'ILLINOIIHS a CASTER Application filed-January 12, 1931.' Serial Nd. 508,035. g v

journaled inthefork 12. 1A plate-13 is ar- My invention relates to improvements in casters and particularly to that type of eas ter in which the upper part, or so called adapter? may be caused to expand to fit into and grip the hollow leg'of an article of furniture such as the leg of a bed, for example.

In devices in use at the present time, the

adapter has-a very limited range of expansion and in many cases requlres a wrench to tighten it in place. Also,'the expandmg elements are usually made of resilient material and Whether resilient or otherwlse, are

caused to expandradially with the result that they do not maintain themselves n position indefinitely but are apt to loosen after acertainperiod of use i I 7 V vThe general ob'ect of my inventlon is to provide an improvedcaster in whlch-the adapter has a-wide range of expansion and H Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan vlew thereof;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the central member which supports four pivoted members' y r Fig. 4: is an elevation thereof with'one of the pivoted members in place;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of one of said pivoted members; 7

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a modified supporting member on which three hinged members may be mounted;

Fig. 7 is an elevation thereof; and Fig. Sis a top plan View of a further modification.

The caster comprises the usual' wheel 10 of any suitable form, rubber tired or otherwise arranged to rotate about a shaft 11 'hinged' members, although a ranged at the top of said forkand has. a

knurled'flange to enablefit to be -grasped conveniently; and carries a centrally located screw threaded shaft lsuch as a bolt or'l 'a' screw; for example, whichlprojects upward- 1 ly 'fromthe yoke 12. A plate :15 is al'so providedjwhich supports the hollow leg 16 of -the when drawn downwardly. by rotation-of said screw, it' -bears against the inclined upper extremitiesli) of a plurality'of hinged members 20. Inthe embodiment of theinvention il'lustrated in Figs. "1 to 5," 'there are four such number may be employed.

7 These hinged m mbers are. fsupportedfby f; 'a central tubularf member2l, made preferably of sheet metal, bent "around and 'i'n'te'r-' greater or less j locked 'at 22 and having four outwardlybent' lips 23. at the top and bottom, e'achof which lips has an opening 24. t0' reCeive'JaneXtenslon 25 one. pivoted member 20'. gAswill be. seen, there{are af'palrof such ext'enslons on each member 20 extending in'oppio'site direc- 20 may swing about a vertical'axi's.

i 20 are substantially 2V shaped; one of "the.

"tions to form journals whereby said members a 5 V edges 19 being so disposed as to belnearly "radial with reference to the screw l4when the four members Y arein innermost "position,

i."e. when they are drawnin'as closely toits edges turned. up to form four inclined portions 265 each adapted tobear against-one ward the center as possible. The nut 17 has 3 in Fig. 2. It will be seen that said 'fourmein "'bers no not 'move radially outwa'rdly but I swing about'their; pivots; 25; the outermost parts describing an arcof a circle untiltheya "are forced'into fir'm -.engagement with thefini 00 f ner surface of the tubu1ar member16 by a sliding motion which serves to wedge them in place. 1

To disengage the caster from the tubular member-the knurled flange may be turned by 7 hand in the opposite direction to relievethe clamping engagement.

In the structure described there are four pivoted members 20 but a greater or less num- 7 upper and lower plate 28-28 thereon hay- V ing three extensions or ears 2'9 with openings her may beemployed. In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown a. central support orframe adapt} ed to .receive three such pivoted members. It consists of cylindrical member 27 with an to pivotally support the three pivoted members. 1

Fig; 8shows a top planvview of a-further :modified central support having two oppositely, extending ears for a similar purose. t flt will be seenthat the adapter has a fairly wide range of expansion whichenables it'to be usedwith hollow legs of various different sizes; In fact two different adapters will suffice for practically all the different sizes of hollow legs that aremet with incommer- ,cial practice, --The=;adapter. need not neces sarily beap-pliedhto caster wheel but to various", other structures such for example. v

as gliders, cushionsandothe'r devices attached to the lower end of the legs offurniturek- 1'. A caster comprising a base having a wheel thereon, a structure associated with sald base to swlvel about a vertical anus and a gripping member pivoted to saidstructure to turn about a vertical axis eccentric with reference to:sa1d first axis. Y

52A caster comprising a said cam surfaces.

base having a having a cam surface adjacent its upper end and aunt on said rod above said member arranged to engage said cam surfaces to operate said gripping devices.

'6. In a caster, a base, a screw'threaded rod projecting vupwardly therefrom, a structure shapedgripping members pivotally support- J surrounding said rod' having lips thereon, V I

ed by said lips and a nut on said rod to engage said gripping members.

- 71 In a caster a supporting frame, a plurality of V shaped gripping members pivoted thereto near one edge of each member, the

face. I Y e 8., Ina caster a screw threaded shank, a

other edge being inclined to form a cam surframe surrounding the same, a plurality of ;V shaped members, one leg of each V shaped member being longer than the other and being pivoted to said frame, the other leg havingan inclined upper jportion serving as a cam 9VA caster comprising a flanged member,

a screw threaded spindle extending upwardly 90 therefrom, adisc on said flanged member," a

surface and a nut on said shaft to engage frame surrounding said screw threaded spiu' dle and resting onsaid disc. and having laterally projectinglugs, gripping members 'piv otally supported said lugs and each having a cam surface thereon and'a nut on said spindle toengage said cam surfaces and thereby 7 swingsaid gripping members about their piv ots touincrease the efiective' diameter.- of h Structure. i w

my name.' Y

DWAR A- R D wheel thereon, a frame. connected thereto centric with reference to said first axis;

'3. A caster; comprising a base, having a wheel thereon, a superstructure mountedv on said base to swivel about a vertical-axis and a plurality of gripping members pivoted to said superstructure spaced. equally about the circumference thereof and means forswingwhereby it may swivel abouta, vertical axis I and a plurality of gripping members pivoted tosaid frame to turn aboutvertical axes ecing saidgripping' members about theiripiv- 4; caster comprising a wheel yoke, verticalscrew threaded rod supported thereby,

v anuton said rod, amembersurroundingsaid t 7 rod between said nut and said yoke and a plura'lity of gripping devices hinged to said member whereby said nut may be moved toward said yoke to swing said gripping devic outwardly. v 7

5; 'A caster comprising alwheel yoke, a vertical screw threaded rod-thereon, a hollow member-surroundingsaid rod, a plurality of gripping devices hinged to said member each I v iso 

